Rise - First reviews

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by TeresofBlood » Sat Jun 22, 2019 12:45 pm

Like others, I am struck by Congratulations. Definitely unique. Overall, it’s a good album with more surprises than the average Alice Cooper album.

It’s really nice having some vocal variety between Depp on Heroes and People Who Died, Perry on Can’t put your arms around a memory, and Tommy on Git from round Me.

Tommy was like the silent partner last time out, but this time he’s a full fledged member of the band. He deserves it as he’s obviously the songwriting backbone of the team. If you follow him on Instagram, you know that he and Johnny hashed a lot of these songs out together and it shows in the overall sound. The whole album has kind of a 90s raw punk sound to it.

Also interesting to note, Tommy Denander is credited on Bushwackers and Mr. Spider. These are probably leftovers from Paranormal sessions as I highly doubt Denander came back for writing duties on this album.

I like the political content of the lyrics. It’s definitely a statement for the zeitgeist here in America where you can no longer say or do anything. I’m always surprised on these forums when I see users posting that they may skip an album. I would figure that if you like Alice enough to post here, you’ll want to give everything he is a part of a shot, but to each their own.

Anyone preorder the vinyl on Amazon? It hasn’t shipped and the site now shows it as unavailable. Very annoying. I’m going to try to run out today and try to find it at Newbury Comics.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by bigbradwolf » Sat Jun 22, 2019 1:59 pm

I'd urge any Alice Cooper fan who hasn't got into the whole Hollywood Vampires thing to give this album a blast. It's solid from start to finish.
1) I Want My Now -7/10 - Disappointed they drag this one out to be a 7 minute track but its a solid start to this very good album. Main chorus riff reminds me of Stone Temple Pilots 'Sex Type Thing'.
3) Who's Laughing Now - 8/10 - Catchy track with a foot stomping beat which is already being rocked around on the live set. Some nice musical interludes build up to the simple and catchy chorus.
5) The Boogieman Surprise - 7/10 - You ain't ready for the Boogieman Surprise? A very Alice Cooper-esque chorus with a solo that sounds fresh out of TLT.
6) Welcome to Bushwackers - 7/10 - Reminds me of the alternative track you normally find on an Alice Cooper album (Dynamite Road, Last Man On Earth), breaks up the album nicely.
8) You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory - 8/10 - One track that surprised me with Perry on vocals. Bob Dylan meets The Who. A really solid track.
9) Git From Round Me -5/10 - A really frustrating song. A dirty groove and the verse ending with boy works and you're thinking this is great but then you get a rather annoying musical interlude which stops the song in its tracks. The chorus is unique but it doesn't do it for me unfortunately.
10) Heroes - 4/10 - Too much like the original for me. If I ever want to listen to Heroes I'll put Bowie's version on. It's a great song but I wish they'd have mixed it up a bit - some kind of twist. Even Depp's vocals sound more like Bowie than Bowie himself.
12) New Threat - 7/10 - A very Alice Cooper sounding track. Aggressive which wouldn't have looked out of place on The Eyes of Alice Cooper.
13) Mr Spider - 10/10 - This is the Alice Cooper I love. A dark filled verse with anticipation that builds into a powerful crescendo before announcing 'I'm Mr Spider'. People will spot similarities to 'I Am The Spider but can anyone else hear 'Gas Panic' by Oasis?
14) We Gotta Rise - 10/10 - I cringed so much when I saw the live video of this but as much as you want to hate it for it's similarities to football chants and 'Vindaloo' it's absolutely brilliant. Turn it up and sing along its absolutely superb with a touch of Cooper comedy for good measure.
15) People Who Died - 4/10 - Again a cracking track and cover but it's too similar to the original. I think what made Hollywood Vampires first album work was the fact that the covers weren't exact replicas of the originals. They all had a twist to them.
16 Congratulations - 10/10 - Something completely unique but at the same time simple and exquisite. Does anyone remember Baz Luhrmann's 'Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)?

Just out of curiosity does anyone see a politically inspired theme running through the album or is it just me?

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Babysquid » Sat Jun 22, 2019 5:14 pm

I’m not sure yet. I like bits of it, there’s nothing I really remember actively disliking. I’ll give it another listen tomorrow. I thought that the “Heroes” cover brought nothing new to the song and could’ve been saved for a b-side or left as a live track.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by patrick » Sat Jun 22, 2019 7:27 pm

http://aardschok.com/
dutch mag, Hollywood Vampires on the cover and 4 pages about them.
review of the cd very positive, stating they truly deserve the name supergroup.
you really wouldn't understand..

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by pitkin88 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 1:21 am

TeresofBlood wrote:
Sat Jun 22, 2019 12:45 pm
Like others, I am struck by Congratulations. Definitely unique. Overall, it’s a good album with more surprises than the average Alice Cooper album.

It’s really nice having some vocal variety between Depp on Heroes and People Who Died, Perry on Can’t put your arms around a memory, and Tommy on Git from round Me.

Tommy was like the silent partner last time out, but this time he’s a full fledged member of the band. He deserves it as he’s obviously the songwriting backbone of the team. If you follow him on Instagram, you know that he and Johnny hashed a lot of these songs out together and it shows in the overall sound. The whole album has kind of a 90s raw punk sound to it.

Also interesting to note, Tommy Denander is credited on Bushwackers and Mr. Spider. These are probably leftovers from Paranormal sessions as I highly doubt Denander came back for writing duties on this album.

I like the political content of the lyrics. It’s definitely a statement for the zeitgeist here in America where you can no longer say or do anything. I’m always surprised on these forums when I see users posting that they may skip an album. I would figure that if you like Alice enough to post here, you’ll want to give everything he is a part of a shot, but to each their own.

Anyone preorder the vinyl on Amazon? It hasn’t shipped and the site now shows it as unavailable. Very annoying. I’m going to try to run out today and try to find it at Newbury Comics.

I'm not decrying Tommys importance to this album but he is not a fully fledged member. You won't see him on the front cover of any magazines. The Hollywood Vampires are Depp Perry and Cooper.

I'm pretty sure Depp is financing the album and the tour
As he is the main draw here. It wouldn't surprise me if Cooper and Perry are salaried with Depp taking the bigger cut as he is stumping up the $.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by pitkin88 » Sun Jun 23, 2019 3:05 am


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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Babysquid » Sun Jun 23, 2019 7:23 am

“I'm not decrying Tommys importance to this album but he is not a fully fledged member. You won't see him on the front cover of any magazines. The Hollywood Vampires are Depp Perry and Cooper.”

Although he is included on the band photo on the gatefold of the vinyl and the candids on one of the inner bags. However the other inner bag features a band pic with only the three of them.

This must be the first album I’ve seen where Alice gets a credit for engineering!

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Babysquid » Mon Jun 24, 2019 7:03 am

“We Gotta Rise” reminds me of Fat Les “Vindaloo”

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by bigbradwolf » Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:00 pm

Regarding Tommy. Lets be honest he's on to a good thing here. Joint writing credits on an album with Cooper, Perry and Depp whilst also producing it. It's only going to enhance his music production career.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by wind_up_toy » Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:26 pm

bigbradwolf wrote:
Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:00 pm
Regarding Tommy. Lets be honest he's on to a good thing here. Joint writing credits on an album with Cooper, Perry and Depp whilst also producing it. It's only going to enhance his music production career.
He also has a spoken part on Congratulations along with Alice, Joe and Johnny. Not a bad gig really.
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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Si » Mon Jun 24, 2019 12:46 pm

I think its clear that Alice, Johnny and Joe consider Tommy a member of the band.
He co-writes everything, tours, and produces and records it all. And maybe most significantly he gets his own monologue on 'Congratulations'. That's a huge nod to him being considered a fully paid up member if the band.
Whether he is on a wage or equal cut or whatever is honestly none of our business. Certainly he's getting equal return on songwriting as his name is on every song. Beyond that we will likely never know, which is fine

btw I also heard a while ago that Depp was pushing for him to be featured in photos etc as he felt is was wrong for him not to be there, and sure enough soon after he started to be pictured on some t-shirts and merchandise etc.
As has been stated he's also pictured in the inside cover (gatefold on the vinyl) of Rise with the main three.

The problem is the press don't care. They have Depp, Alice and Perry. And it seems the promotional department also don't care as all the newest promo shots seem to again just be the three.
Honestly, I don't think that is fair, but I assume Tommy is at least resigned to it. He IS the least famous name in an extremely famous group.

Ironically I think a Vampires based interview with Tommy would likely be far more interesting then any of the other three, who are used to simply rolling out the same old answers over and over. Tommy tends to speak his mind!

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by While Heaven Wept » Mon Jun 24, 2019 2:33 pm

Having had the weekend to let this album sink into my brain, I must say that i'm pretty impressed. It's not perfect and i'm not sold on the cover People Who Died. That one goes for at least 2 minutes too long. I actually really like their version of Heroes and I think the Johnny Thunders cover is really sympathetic.

The original songs are where the band really shines. Git From Round Me, I Want My Now, Boogieman Surprise, Who's Laughing Now, Mr Spider, New Threat...... that's a very decent bunch of songs right there. I'd even say that many of these surpass much of Paranormal. Welcome To Bushwackers has just the right amount of snarl and humour from Alice to make it worthwhile.

The guitar playing throughout is a highlight, as are the drums which are punchy but still have a looseness and vitality which was missing from Paranormal. I like how the album is paced and the additions of little skits/interludes helps to make the album feel more of a complete package. I wasn't interested in this band at all with the first album, but Rise feels like an actual band. I think it helps that the likes of Depp, Tommy and Perry have taken the oars with this one as it allows for songs which are allowed to breathe and play out. It isn't all about Alice's vocals, the instrumentation has a natural and organic feel.

Alice's vocals are great throughout, hard to believe a man of his age can still spit out those words with such conviction. There's a menace about his delivery and the lyrics which harks back to Alice of old.

Last word has to go to the brains behind this band which I think is quite clearly Tommy. The orchestration is really good. The production is spot on. If you listen to Paranormal and the first HV record, the drums and guitars just sound sterile and too pristine. Tommy has done a great job on making the band sound like the band, capture what's already there and try not to touch it up too much.

I'd give this record a decent 8/10. Probably my favourite thing Alice has done since Eyes and a total surprise for me as I had absolutely no expectations for it.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Saint&Sinner » Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:11 am

I picked this up the other day and have had several spins. Really struggling to see much appeal on this,

The plus points are:
Great sounding production (in a deliberately dirty 70s vibe, nicely recorded live by the sound of it, but we know tommy, tommy tommy, can produce :) )
Superb vocals from alice, the man is unstoppable, 70 years old and still kicking this level of vocals is superb.
2 tracks I actually like outright are New threat and Mr. Spider.

The rest:
either 3 or 4 pointless instrumentals (and I use instrumentals in the loosest possible sense)
some pointless covers that bring nothing to the table, joe perrys voice is not good and Heroes (while not bad) is pointless.
Several I am OK with but have some serious faults with them (i.e. How can "I want my now" be that long?, the ha, ha, ha moment in "who's laughing now")
I am unsure about "Celebration" which I feel is a good idea if a) it was trimmed substantially b) it could get a handle on it's tone, way to serious (under its current guise I am not sure about it at all)
Several I just do not like, chief among them Rise which is just dire. Bushwackers which is just not my thing rather than a poor song outright.

The guitar work is largely mediocre (fitting for a glorified pub band) with splashes of inspiration. The remaining instrumentation following the same lines.

This album really doesn't gel with me. I think I would give it a 4 out of 10 overall.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by revinkevin » Wed Jun 26, 2019 1:45 pm

A very good album. So much better than the first one. They sound like a band not just a bunch of guest musicians. The first one sounded shrill and harsh. With Tommy producing it’s a much more natural overall tone. Hope Alice remembers this the next time for his stuff.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Pitta » Wed Jun 26, 2019 8:47 pm

I think it's really a solid album with some perfect and some average songs and with an average production. I definitely don't like the vocal effects (too much vocoder), and I had the same problem with the last three Alice Cooper albums too.

I want my now - a standout song. Perfect riffs, perfect chorus, but I can't understand why is it so long. Without the vocoder effects and the last 2 minutes it would be 10. So 9/10.

Good people are hard to find-Who's laughing now - it's like a Rob Zombie song. Cool lyrics and a catchy chorus. 8/10

How the glas fell-Boogieman surprise - I think Alice's voice will be better with his age. He sings perfect in this song and I find the chorus genial. The guitar solo is like Aerosmith in the 90's. 9/10

Welcome to Bushwackers - I loved the live version but the the studio mix is horrible. A nice song but nothing special. 7/10

The wrong bandage-You can't put your arms around a memory - Joe Perry is definitely not the best singer in Hollywood vampires. The guitar work is nice and the chorus is okay with the background vocals, but it's not my favourite. 6/10

Git from around me - this song is a little bit frustrating. I like the chorus and the guitar parts. I think it could've been better. 6/10

Heroes - Johnny Depp is not my favourite singer, not my favourite actor and not my favourite guitar player but this song is okay. It's okay because the original from David Bowie is a good song. 7/10

A pitiful beauty- New threat - My favourite song on this album. Alice's voice is perfect again. A superb chorus with the perfect riffs. A good mixture of Alice Cooper and Mötley Crüe. 10/10

Mr Spider- it's a really Alice Cooper song. Genial. 10/10

We gotta rise - at the first time I didn't really liked it, but now I think it has it's moments. Not a typical song. The lyrics are funny. 8/10

The people who died- Another cover. I liked it at the concerts. 8/10

Congratulations - Nice atmosphere. I like it. 8/10

The whole album is 8/10 for me. This album is for me more Alice Cooper than the last two Alice Cooper albums, and the best thing since the Dirty Diamonds. It has its weaknesses (annoying sound effects, useless cover songs) but I love it.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Saint&Sinner » Thu Jun 27, 2019 12:50 am

This album is for me more Alice Cooper than the last two Alice Cooper albums, and the best thing since the Dirty Diamonds
Strong words indeed, for me its definitely not better than W2MN or Paranormal (both classic albums) but is it better than (my hated album) dirty diamonds. Tough one, the production is better by a country mile (again, well done tommy,tommy,tommy) but I think dirty diamonds despite its terrible production, grab bag approach to songs and some really terrible songs (like perfect) it still had enough good stuff to lift over "rise" , just.
Whats funny is at the time dirty diamonds and eyes were touted for their "live" approach/sound with one pass and little overdubs (I know diamonds was slightly more overdubs but was still touted for the same reason) but Rise sounds better than either of those albums. Wish he had met tommy years ago! (maybe we could have had a good version of ACAS if tommy,tommy,tommy was at the wheel)

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by patrick » Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:59 am

quote:Wish he had met tommy years ago! (maybe we could have had a good version of ACAS if tommy,tommy,tommy was at the wheel)//
(just out of curiosity while looking for reviews of Rise, I looked at reviews for ACAS and was suprised to see more positive reviews than I had expected.. . So with another input ( Tommy ?) it could have got more positive notes here )
Rise : been listening several times now to the whole CD and it's growing on me : Alice is in good shape here ! Heroes is ok with me ( and I like Bowie) for he stayed as close to the original as possible ( the way Alice did with Eleanor Rigby).
Sometimes I read here that he adds nothing to it, but, as it is very good song, it would be hard to make it better, wouldn't it ?
Mister Spider is on now... this is pure Alice :-).
you really wouldn't understand..

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by patrick » Sat Jun 29, 2019 4:41 pm

and in the mean time Rise : entered at 17 in uk top 40 //
( just heard ' Heroes" on the national radio , with a little explanation about HV..)
you really wouldn't understand..

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by pitkin88 » Sat Jun 29, 2019 7:14 pm

Im guessing UK sales have surpassed 8000.

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Re: Rise - First reviews

Post by Swinger » Sat Jun 29, 2019 10:40 pm

patrick wrote:
Sat Jun 29, 2019 11:59 am
Heroes is ok with me ( and I like Bowie) for he stayed as close to the original as possible ( the way Alice did with Eleanor Rigby).
Sometimes I read here that he adds nothing to it, but, as it is very good song, it would be hard to make it better, wouldn't it ?
That's the thing for me - when it's this close to the original (Depp even sounds like he's trying to sing like Bowie) then why just not listen to the original? (especially when it's such an iconic song already)
For me a good cover is not necessarily about trying to be better then original but just providing a different take - a different voice, a different feeling, a different interpretation and so on.
A good cover of "Heroes" for me is Motörheads version - is it better than the original, no - but it's grittier, looser and knowing it was one of the last recordings Lemmy did (and released after his death) gives it a certain poignancy.

It think it's interesting BTW that of the three covers on "Rise" only "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" works for me, because even if Joe Perry isn't that good of a singer his version at least has a different energy then the original. (it also helps that I'm not as familiar with the original)
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